Of Trucks and Speeches
by Kavery12
Summary: Edward Elric can't wriggle out of giving a hated speech. And what DOES one say to a class full of brats, anyway?


I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Dex _hated _school. He had better things to do, like finish building his truck with his dad. Unfortunately, his mother didn't agree. And it didn't help that he had to sit in class on this beautiful spring afternoon and listen to some old fart, this "Fullmetal Alchemist" who apparently knew his teacher's husband way back when in the old days. The guy wasn't even an alchemist anymore, even if he was a hero. And _everyone_ knew that military heroes were these scarred, boring dudes who droned on and on about honour for _hours_.

So here he was, sulking in front of the school and contemplating skipping. But he had had three detentions this month already for skipping and his mom had promised to sweet-talk old Radley into giving him a radiator if he stayed in school for the rest of the month. He thought about going to hang out with his friends, but they were all gung-ho over this "Edward Elric" and he didn't really wanna listen to them gush like girls.

A huge, heartfelt sigh interrupted his funk and he glanced over. Some blond guy in a long brown coat was slumped under the tree, looking just as depressed as Dex. "Your life sucks too?" Dex asked, curious.

"It sucks MAJORLY," the blond guy complained. "I have to give a speech this afternoon and I have better stuff to do." "Story of my life," Dex sympathized. "I have to listen to some old fart this afternoon, but I'd rather finish building my truck. Dad says I can drive it around the farm when I'm done." The blond guy sat up, bright golden eyes glowing with interest. "Really? You're building a truck? That's _awesome_!" Dex grinned and scooted over to the guy. He spent the rest of lunch hour discussing the finer details of radiators, tie rods and engines with the blond, who knew quite a bit about mechanics.

The bell rang and they both moaned. "Hey, it was fun, but I gotta run or Teach is going to report me again and I'll lose my radiator!" Dex panicked, scooting towards the gate. The blonde grinned knowingly, waving him off. Dex barreled into the classroom and parked himself just in time.

The teacher scowled, but let it pass. "Class," she announced a few minutes later, "I'd like to introduce you to the People's Hero, the Fullmet- ah, Major, ah…" Dex couldn't see from his back corner of the room, but a pair of intense eyes lasered into the side of her head, demanding an appropriate (aka informal) introduction. "Ed Elric," she finished hastily, swinging the door open.

The young man from lunch swaggered in, black boots clumping, not much taller than the teacher. "AH!" he and Dex yelled at each other. "_I am not an old fart!_" Edward Elric roared at Dex, who jumped a bit but grinned cheekily. Hey, his afternoon wasn't going to be boring after all!

Ed calmed himself with an effort, mumbling under his breath. "I don't know what's worse, an old fart or a bean sprout. At least bean sprouts are young. But bean sprouts are small, and I am no longer small. Unless…" and his face darkened continually, beginning to resemble some sort of demon, creeping out the entire classroom with the exception of Dex, who smirked. This was fun.

Ed coughed and regained control. "Anyway. I'm supposed to give a speech about patriotism and heroism and crap." The teacher's face whitened just a bit and Dex sat back to enjoy the show.

"Actually, it _is_ a load of crap. The state used to want to raise up good little drones who would listen blindly to anything the state said. And I'm telling you that that is bad. It's a sign of rot and the country should get rid of it. We're working on that right now." The class was silent and Dex quirked an eyebrow. Ed crossed his arms and tapped a heavy left foot. "I can't tell you what to think and I sure as heck can't tell you what to do. All I can _suggest_ is that you think about the people around you, the ones you love, think about what you want for them and make this country into that image through the state."

There was a long silence while the kids tried to struggle through what Ed had just said, Dex included.

"In short," Ed twitched just a bit, "You should think about living honestly and kindly in whatever way suits you best. I'm not a hero, never have been. I've just been trying to protect my family. I'm still doing that through research and travel because that's my passion. Yours might be building trucks and cars to help your family and friends move reliably around day to day, or quickly and safely in an emergency." Dex brightened. So trucks weren't just a ridiculous hobby.

"Real heroes are the ones you never hear about, the ones who spend their whole lives quietly protecting the people they love. If Amestris becomes a country of people who protect each other, we'll be full of heroes and peace at the same time." Ed surveyed his confused audience and shrugged.

"Now I'm done talking. Later," and he stalked out again, already muttering something about making the next town by dark.

Dex grinned as the rest of his classmates sat in shock. That afternoon, all his friends sat around and complained about how Ed didn't talk about his heroic exploits or awesome alchemy or _anything_ cool. "I guess the Fullmetal Alchemist isn't so great after all," Dex's best friend finished, "eh, Dex?"

Dex was still grinning. "Huh? Oh, no, I think he's _great_. That was the best class yet." His friends stared at him like he had lost his mind, but that was okay.

Edward Elric really was a great guy.


End file.
